Final Goodbye
by Alanna The Lionness
Summary: Before he struck the final blow to the Archdemon was not their final goodbye. Fluff written for the swooping crowd. Female PC/Alistair


A/N: This was created for the awesome people over at swooping_is_bad but I figured I'd share the Alistair love here too. Written in a format that you can insert the PC of your choosing.

**Final Goodbye**

There was a ghost of a smile on his face, but it was not the jovial one I'd come to know. Instead it was an expression of his faith that I would survive long past this day. The eyes that usually left me warm all over bore into me with every emotion imaginable, begging for the understanding I had no desire to give. "You say that as though I'm giving you a choice."

He had always been better at accepting the sacrifices of duty that came with being a Grey Warden than I was. The chance to take his place in this battle was stolen from me as he loped toward the Archdemon, his fury at the hand life had dealt us drove him forward faster than one should be able to run in full armor. I'm certain he wanted to make sure I couldn't get there before him, though he needn't have worried. It's shameful to admit, but in the last moments we were on this world together, I was paralyzed with my overwhelming regret. I should have helped more people on my travels; there was so much I neglected in favor of being with the man that I love. I should have made him king; Ferelden could only have been so lucky as to have a man like him at the helm. Though above all else, I should have taken Morrigan's deal; one night with her seems so trivial now considering the benefit.

Ever the seasoned warrior, Alistair's final strike was swift and unrelenting, there could be no quarter given to that monstrosity. At once burning light exploded on the top of Fort Drakon somehow engulfing even the air we breathed.

_The light did not diminish as I thought it would but grew. My entire vision was soon taken over by blinding whiteness._

"_I don't regret this, any of it. This terrible pain the darkness has caused brought me to you. I don't regret it, truly." His voice was both inside my head and beside me, sending echoes through my brain. Then he was there not too far in front of me wearing the same armor he wore when we first met, his features obscure as if in a dream. Without knowing how, I realized we were no longer at Fort Drakon. This shining place felt more like the Fade than anything else._

"_Close enough my love." As he walked closer his appearance changed and became clearer. He morphed so subtly that I hardly noticed the difference until his face was only inches from my own. He looked exactly like he did before the final battle, before the tainted blood of the Darkspawn had had a chance to dye us all red. The expression on his face was mostly blank but for the deep serenity in his eyes. It was the look of someone wholly at peace. It was a look completely alien to me. This apparition did not fool me though; I knew in the recesses of my heart that he was gone from the living so this couldn't possibly be _my _Alistair. I could receive no joke or smile from him now. Even still, the thought of Alistair doing anything but smirking was unsettling, "My apologies dear one, is this better?"_

_To say that answering my unspoken words was starting to piss me off would be a vast understatement, nonetheless, a radiant grin lit up his face that softened me to the core. I suddenly realized I didn't care if this wasn't possible or real. The man I loved was standing in front of me and the only thing I could do was complain about his countenance?! Maker be damned if this was just a dream, I was going to enjoy myself. _

_A boom of laughter forced itself passed his lips, "Your mind only has one destination doesn't it?" Under normal circumstances I would have pouted, though nothing about this was normal so of course I wanted to be as close to him as I possibly could… At once his arms found their way around me. We fit together like pieces of a puzzle, only meant for each other._

"_I would have done anything to stay with you." The words are whispered into my ear after he places a kiss on my forehead, they travel much farther though to stab into my heart. If he had known about Morrigan's deal… would things be different?_

"_What ifs are useless now, questioning the decisions that led us here will only cause more heartache. So please, don't ask." There's an unmistakable note of desperation in his voice. Alistair heaves a heavy sigh pulling away from me slightly to cup my face in his hands. His eyes rove over every contour of my face committing each detail to memory. Following his lead for once, I do the same so that I might be able to remember what he looks like longer._

_I sense a shift, he doesn't have to tell me, I know. This moment in time we're suspended in is ending. He stares straight into my eyes and says in the most enduring voice I've ever heard, "Maker's breath but you're beautiful."_

_Alistair steps away from me then taking the air in my lungs with him. One final nod as if to assure himself I'll be fine without him and he turns on his heel walking toward a place I can no longer follow. His features start to change again becoming a blurred vision of him in his Grey Warden armor. Just before he becomes indistinguishable from the whiteness that surrounds us he turns his head to call over his shoulder, a secret smile on his face._

"_Don't worry my sweet, when you go to walk the deep roads at the end of your time, I promise you, you won't be alone."_

It's been ages since I last consciously looked at the shriveled bit of organic material I have pinned to the desk in my study at the new Grey Warden fortress I'm head of in Denerim. It brings back so much to see it now even though a great deal of time has past from when it was picked. It does not yield to me the sadness it once did though. Instead I am filled with the comfort that my time to travel to Orzammar comes nearer everyday. With each step I take I become closer the piece of myself that I forever gave away.


End file.
